Thar Desert

The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's 20th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-largest hot subtropical desert.

Thar Desert
Great Indian Desert
Thar Desert in Rajasthan, India
Map of the Thar Desert ecoregion
Ecology
RealmIndomalayan
BiomeDeserts and xeric shrublands
BordersNorthwestern thorn scrub forests and Rann of Kutch seasonal salt marsh
Geography
Area238,254 km2 (91,990 sq mi)
CountriesIndia and Pakistan
States of India and provinces of PakistanIndia: Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab,
Pakistan: Punjab and Sindh
Coordinates27°N 71°E
Conservation
Conservation statusvulnerable[1]
Protected41,833 km2 (18%)[2]

About 85% of the Thar Desert is in India, and about 15% is in Pakistan.[3] The Thar Desert is about 4.56% of the total geographical area of India. More than 60% of the desert lies in the Indian state of Rajasthan; the portion in India also extends into Gujarat, Punjab, and Haryana. The portion in Pakistan extends into the provinces of Sindh[4] and Punjab (the portion in the latter province is referred to as the Cholistan Desert).

Geography
A NASA satellite image of the Thar Desert, with the India–Pakistan border
View of the Thar Desert

The northeastern part of the Thar Desert lies between the Aravalli Hills. The desert stretches to Punjab and Haryana in the north, to the Great Rann of Kutch along the coast, and to the alluvial plains of the Indus River in the west and northwest. Much of the desert area is covered by huge, shifting sand dunes that receive sediments from the alluvial plains and the coast. The sand is highly mobile due to the strong winds that rise each year before the onset of the monsoon. The Luni River is the only river in the desert.[5] Rainfall is 100 to 500 mm (4 to 20 in) per year, almost all of it between June and September.[3]

Saltwater lakes within the Thar Desert include the Sambhar, Kuchaman, Didwana, Pachpadra, and Phalodi in Rajasthan and Kharaghoda in Gujarat. These lakes receive and collect rainwater during monsoon and evaporate during the dry season. The salt comes from the weathering of rocks in the region.[6]

Lithic tools belonging to the prehistoric Aterian culture of the Maghreb have been discovered in Middle Paleolithic deposits in the Thar Desert.[7]

Climate

The climate is arid and subtropical. Average temperature varies with season, and extremes can range from near-freezing in the winter to more than 50º C in the summer months. Average annual rainfall ranges from 100 to 500 mm, and occurs during the short July-to-September southwest monsoon.[1]

The desert has both a very dry part (the Marusthali region in the west) and a semidesert part (in the east) that has fewer sand dunes and slightly more precipitation.[8]

Desertification control
Greening desert with plantations of jojoba at Fatehpur, Shekhawati
Checking of shifting sand dunes through plantations of Acacia tortilis near Laxmangarh town
Indira Gandhi Canal flowing in Thar Desert near Sattasar village, Bikaner district, Rajasthan

The soil of the Thar Desert remains dry for much of the year, so it is prone to wind erosion. High-velocity winds blow soil from the desert, depositing some of it on neighboring fertile lands, and causing sand dunes within the desert to shift. To counteract this problem, sand dunes are stabilised by first erecting microwindbreak barriers with scrub material and then by afforestation of the treated dunes—planting the seedlings of shrubs (such as phog, senna, and castor oil plant) and trees (such as gum acacia, Prosopis juliflora, and lebbek tree). The 649-km-long Indira Gandhi Canal brings fresh water to the Thar Desert.[3] It was built to halt any spreading of the desert into fertile areas.

Protected areas

There are several protected areas in the Thar Desert:

  • In India:
    • The Desert National Park, in Rajasthan, covers 3,162 km2 (1,221 sq mi) and represents the Thar Desert ecosystem;[9] it includes 44 villages.[10] Its diverse fauna includes the great Indian bustard (Chirotis nigricaps), blackbuck, chinkara, fox, Bengal fox, wolf, and caracal. Seashells and massive fossilized tree trunks in this park record the geological history of the desert.
    • The Tal Chhapar Sanctuary covers 7 km2 (2.7 sq mi) and is an Important Bird Area.[10] It is located in the Churu District, 210 km (130 mi) from Jaipur, in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. This sanctuary is home to large populations of blackbuck, fox, caracal, partridge, and sand grouse.
    • The Sundha Mata Conservation Reserve covers 117.49 km2 (45.36 sq mi) and is located in the Jalore District of Rajasthan.[11]
  • In Pakistan:
    • The Nara Desert Wildlife Sanctuary covers 6,300 km2 (2,400 sq mi);[12] it is located in is located in Mirpurkhas District.[13] It contains the largest population of the endangered mugger crocodile in Pakistan.[13]
    • The Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary located in Badin District is an Important Bird Area and Ramsar Site, with 30 species of mammals, 112 bird species, 20 reptiles, and 22 important plant species.[14]
    • The Lal Suhanra Biosphere Reserve and National Park is a UNESCO declared biosphere reserve,[15] which covers 65,791 hectares (254.02 sq mi) the Cholistan region of the Greater Thar Desert.[16]

Biodiversity
Blackbuck male and female
The chinkara or Indian gazelle is found across the Thar Desert.

Fauna

Some wildlife species that are fast vanishing in other parts of India are found in the desert in large numbers, including the blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), chinkara (Gazella bennettii),and Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) in the Rann of Kutch. This may be partly because they are well adapted to this environment: they are smaller than similar animals that live in other environments, and they are mainly nocturnal. It may also be because grasslands in this region have not been transformed into cropland as fast as in other regions, and because a local community, the Bishnois, has made special efforts to protect them.

Other mammals in the Thar Desert include a subspecies of red fox (Vulpes vulpes pusilla) and the caracal, and a number of reptiles dwell there too.

Peacock on a khejri tree
Peafowl eating pieces of chapati in Tharparkar District, Sindh

The region is a haven for 141 species of migratory and resident desert birds, including harriers, falcons, buzzards, kestrels, vultures, short-toed eagles (Circaetus gallicus), tawny eagles (Aquila rapax), greater spotted eagles (Aquila clanga), and laggar falcons (Falco jugger).

The Indian peafowl is a resident breeder in the Thar region. The peacock is designated as the national bird of India and the provincial bird of the Punjab (Pakistan). It can be seen sitting on khejri or pipal trees in villages or Deblina.

Thari cow breed originating from Tharparkar, Sindh, popular since World War I[17]

Flora
Khumbhi from Tharparkar, Sindh
Prosopis cineraria or khejri or kandi

The natural vegetation of this dry area is classified as northwestern thorn scrub forest occurring in small clumps scattered more or less openly.[18][19] Density and size of patches increase from west to east following the increase in rainfall. The natural vegetation of the Thar Desert is composed of these tree, shrub, and herb species:[20]

  • Trees and shrubs: Vachellia jacquemontii, Balanites roxburghii, Ziziphus zizyphus, Ziziphus nummularia, Calotropis procera, Suaeda fruticosa, Crotalaria burhia, Aerva javanica, Clerodendrum multiflorum, Leptadenia pyrotechnica, Lycium barbarum, Grewia tenax, Commiphora mukul, Euphorbia caducifolia, Euphorbia neriifolia, Cordia sinensis, Maytenus emarginata, Capparis decidua, Mimosa hamata
  • Herbs and grasses: Ochthochloa compressa, Dactyloctenium scindicum, Cenchrus biflorus, Cenchrus setiger, Lasiurus scindicus, Cynodon dactylon, Panicum turgidum, Panicum antidotale, Dichanthium annulatum, Sporobolus marginatus, Saccharum spontaneum, Cenchrus ciliaris, Desmostachya bipinnata, Eragrostis species, Ergamopagan species, Phragmites species, Tribulus terrestris, Typha species, Sorghum halepense, Citrullus colocynthis

The endemic floral species include Calligonum polygonoides, Prosopis cineraria, Acacia nilotica, Tamarix aphylla, and Cenchrus biflorus.[21]

People
Huts in the Thar Desert
A girl from the Gadia Lohars nomadic tribe of Marwar, cooking her food.

The Thar people are the natives of the area. The Thar Desert is the most widely populated desert in the world, with a population density of 83 people per km2.[10] In India, the inhabitants comprise Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Muslims. In Pakistan, inhabitants include both Muslims and Hindus.[22]

About 40% of the total population of Rajasthan lives in the Thar Desert.[23] The main occupations of the inhabitants are agriculture and animal husbandry. A colourful culture, rich in tradition, prevails in this desert. The people have a great passion for folk music and folk poetry.

Jodhpur, the largest city in the region, lies in the scrub forest zone at the desert's perimeter. Bikaner and Jaisalmer are the largest cities located entirely in the desert.

Water and housing in the desert
Johads are common water sources

In the true desert areas, the only sources of water for animals or humans are small, scattered ponds - some that are natural (tobas) and some that are human-made (johads). The persistence of water scarcity heavily influences life in all areas of the Thar, prompting many inhabitants to adopt a nomadic lifestyle. Most of the permanent human settlements are located near the two seasonal streams of the Karon-Jhar hills. Potable groundwater is also rare in the Thar Desert. Much of it tastes sour due to dissolved minerals. Potable water is mostly available only deep underground. When wells are dug that happen to yield sweet tasting water, people tend to settle near them, but such wells are difficult and dangerous to dig, sometimes claiming the lives of the well-diggers.

Tanks for drinking water

Crowded housing conditions are common in some areas.

Recreation
Desert tribes near Jaisalmer, India
Due to severe weather conditions, few highways are in the Thar Desert. Shown here is a road in Tharparkar district of Sindh, Pakistan.

Economy

Agriculture

The Thar is one of the most heavily populated desert areas in the world with the main occupations of its inhabitants being agriculture and animal husbandry.

Bajra is the main kharif crop in Thar.
Mustard fields in a village of Shri Ganganagar district (Rajasthan, India).

Agricultural production is mainly from kharif crops, which are grown in the summer season and seeded in June and July. These are then harvested in September and October and include bajra, pulses such as guar, jowar (Sorghum vulgare), maize (zea mays), sesame and groundnuts.

The Thar region of Rajasthan is a major opium production and consumption area.[24][25]

Livestock
Camel ride in the Thar Desert near Jaisalmer, India
Cattle in the Thar Desert

Agroforestry
Lopping of khejri tree for fodder and fuel in Harsawa village


P. cineraria wood is reported to contain high calorific value and provide high-quality fuel wood. The lopped branches are good as fencing material. Its roots also encourage nitrogen fixation, which produces higher crop yields.

Tecomella undulata tree in the village of Harsawa

Ecotourism
Sunrise in the desert

Desert safaris on camels have become increasingly popular around Jaisalmer. Domestic and international tourists frequent the desert seeking adventure on camels for one to several days. This ecotourism industry ranges from cheaper backpacker treks to plush Arabian night-style campsites replete with banquets and cultural performances. During the treks, tourists are able to view the fragile and beautiful ecosystem of the Thar Desert. This form of tourism provides income to many operators and camel owners in Jaisalmer, as well as employment for many camel trekkers in the desert villages nearby. People from various parts of the world come to see the Pushkar ka Mela (Pushkar Fair) and oases.

Industry

The government of India initiated departmental exploration for oil in 1955 and 1956 in the Jaisalmer area,[26] Oil India Limited discovered natural gas in 1988 in the Jaisalmer basin.[27]


History

The Desert National Park in Jaisalmer district has a collection of 180-million-year- old animal and plant fossils.

Jaisalmer State’s historical foundations are in the large empire ruled by the Bhati dynasty. The empire stretched from what is now Ghazni[28] in modern-day Afghanistan to what is Sialkot, Lahore and Rawalpindi in modern-day Pakistan[29] to the region that is Bhatinda and Hanumangarh in modern-day India.[30] The empire crumbled over time because of continuous invasions from central Asia. According to Satish Chandra, the Hindu Shahis of Afghanistan made an alliance with the Bhatti rulers of Multhan because they wanted to end the slave raids that were made by the Turkic ruler of Ghazni, but the alliance was broken apart by Alp Tigin in 977 CE. Bhati dominions continued to shift southwards: they ruled Multan, then finally got pushed into Cholistan and Jaisalmer, where Rawal Devaraja built Dera Rawal / Derawar.[31] Jaisalmer was founded as the new capital in 1156 by Maharawal Jaisal Singh and the state took its name from the capital. On 11 December 1818 Jaisalmer became a British protectorate through the Rajputana Agency.[32][33]

Because the kingdom’s main source of income had long been levies on caravans, its economy suffered after Bombay became a major port, and sea trade largely replaced trade along the traditional land routes. Maharawals Ranjit Singh and Bairi Sal Singh tried to reverse the economic decline, but the kingdom nevertheless became impoverished. To make matters worse, there was a severe drought and a resulting famine from 1895 to 1900, during the reign of Maharawal Salivahan Singh, which caused the widespread loss of the livestock upon which the increasingly agriculturally based kingdom had come to rely.

In 1965 and 1971, population exchanges took place in the Thar between India and Pakistan; 3,500 Muslims shifted from the Indian section of the Thar to Pakistani Thar, whilst thousands of Hindu families also migrated from Pakistani Thar to the Indian section.[34][35][36]

Thar in ancient literature
The position of Thar Desert (orange colour) in Iron Age Vedic India
Present-day Gagghar-Hakra river-course, with paleochannels as proposed by (Clift et al. (2012)).[37]
1 = ancient river
2 = today's river
3 = today's Thar desert
4 = ancient shore
5 = today's shore
6 = today's town
7 = paelochannels (Clift et al. (2012))

See also
Amar Sagar, near Jaisalmer
  • Arid Forest Research Institute
  • Arid Lands Information Network
  • Aridification
  • Cholistan Desert
  • Cyclone Phet – tracked directly over the desert
  • Deforestation
  • Geography of India
  • History of Thar
  • List of deserts by area
  • Marwar
  • Pokhran

References
  1. "Thar Desert". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  2. Dinerstein, Eric; Olson, David; et al. (2017). "An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm". BioScience. 67 (6): 534–545 [Supplemental material 2 table S1b]. doi:10.1093/biosci/bix014.
  3. Sinha, R. K.; Bhatia, S. & Vishnoi, R. (1996). "Desertification control and rangeland management in the Thar desert of India". RALA Report No. 200: 115–123.
  4. Sharma, K. K.; Mehra, S. P. (2009). "The Thar of Rajasthan (India): Ecology and Conservation of a Desert Ecosystem". In Sivaperuman, C.; Baqri, Q. H.; Ramaswamy, G.; Naseema, M. (eds.). Faunal ecology and conservation of the Great Indian Desert. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-87409-6_1. ISBN 978-3-540-87408-9.
  5. Laity, J. J. (2009). Deserts and Desert Environments. John Wiley & Sons.
  6. Ramesh, R.; Jani, R. A. & Bhushan, R. (1993). "Stable isotopic evidence for the origin of salt lakes in the Thar desert". Journal of Arid Environments. 25 (1): 117–123. doi:10.1006/jare.1993.1047.
  7. Gwen Robbins Schug, Subhash R. Walimbe (2016). A Companion to South Asia in the Past. John Wiley & Sons. p. 64. ISBN 978-1119055471. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. Sharma, K. K., S. Kulshreshtha, A. R. Rahmani (2013). Faunal Heritage of Rajasthan, India: General Background and Ecology of Vertebrates. Springer Science & Business Media, New York.
  9. Rahmani, A. R. (1989). "The uncertain future of the Desert National Park in Rajasthan, India". Environmental Conservation. 16 (3): 237–244. doi:10.1017/S0376892900009322.
  10. Singh, P. (ed.) (2007). "Report of the Task Force on Grasslands and Deserts" Archived 10 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Government of India Planning Commission, New Delhi.
  11. WII (2015). Conservation Reserves Archived 10 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
  12. Ghalib, S. A.; et al. (2008). "Bioecology of Nara Desert Wildlife Sanctuary, Districts Ghotki, Sukkur and Khairpur, Sindh". Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 40 (1): 37–43. ISSN 0030-9923.
  13. "Protected Areas". Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  14. Ghalib, S. A.; et al. (2014). "Current distribution and status of the mammals, birds and reptiles in Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary, Sindh". International Journal of Biology and Biotechnology (Pakistan). 10 (4): 601–611. ISSN 1810-2719.
  15. "Lal Suhanra". UNESCO. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  16. "UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  17. "Breeds of Livestock - Tharparkar Cattle — Breeds of Livestock, Department of Animal Science". afs.okstate.edu. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  18. Champion, H. G.; Seth, S. K. (1968). A revised survey of the forest types of India. Government of India Press. OCLC 549213.
  19. Negi, S. S. (1996). Biosphere Reserves in India: Landuse, Biodiversity and Conservation. Delhi: Indus Publishing Company.
  20. Kaul, R. N. (1970). Afforestation in arid zones. Monographiiae Biologicae. Vol. 20. The Hague. OCLC 115047.
  21. Khan, T. I. & Frost, S. (2001). "Floral biodiversity: a question of survival in the Indian Thar Desert". Environmentalist. 21 (3): 231–236. doi:10.1023/A:1017991606974.
  22. Raza, Hassan (5 March 2012). "Mithi: Where a Hindu fasts and a Muslim does not slaughter cows". Dawn.
  23. Gupta, M. L. (2008). Rajasthan Gyan Kosh. 3rd Edition. Jojo Granthagar, Jodhpur. ISBN 81-86103-05-8
  24. "ICMR Bulletin vol.38, No.1-3, Pattern and Process of Drug and Alcohol Use in India" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  25. "Will Rajasthan opium farmers vote for change?". Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  26. "PlanningCommission.NIC.in". Archived from the original on 14 April 2006. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  27. OilIndia.NIC.in Archived 30 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  28. "Rajasthan or the Central and Western Rajpoot States, Volume 2, page 197-198". Higginbotham And Co. Madras. 14 August 2018.
  29. "Imperial Gazetter of India, Volume 21, page 272 - Imperial Gazetteer of India - Digital South Asia Library". Dsal.uchicago.edu. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  30. "Bhatinda Government: District at A glance- Origin". Bhatinda Government. 14 August 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  31. "Provinical Gazetteers Of India: Rajputana". Government of India. 14 August 2018.
  32. "Princely States of India".
  33. "Provinical Gazetteers Of India: Rajputana". Government of India. 14 August 2018.
  34. Hasan, Arif; Raza, Mansoor (2009). Migration and Small Towns in Pakistan. IIED. pp. 15–16. ISBN 9781843697343.
  35. Maini, Tridivesh Singh (15 August 2012). "Not just another border". Himal South Asian.
  36. Arisar, Allah Bux (6 October 2015). "Families separated by Pak-India border yearn to see their loved ones". News Lens Pakistan. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  37. See map

Further reading
  • Bhandari M. M. Flora of The Indian Desert, MPS Repros, 39, BGKT Extension, New Pali Road, Jodhpur, India.
  • Zaigham, N. A. (2003). "Strategic sustainable development of groundwater in Thar Desert of Pakistan". Water Resources in the South: Present Scenario and Future Prospects, Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South, Islamabad.
  • Govt. of India. Ministry of Food & Agriculture booklet (1965)—"Soil conservation in the Rajasthan Desert"—Work of the Desert Afforestation Research station, Jodhpur.
  • Gupta, R. K. & Prakash Ishwar (1975). Environmental analysis of the Thar Desert. English Book Depot., Dehra Dun.
  • Kaul, R. N. (1967). "Trees or grass lands in the Rajasthan: Old problems and New approaches". Indian Forester, 93: 434–435.
  • Burdak, L. R. (1982). "Recent Advances in Desert Afforestation". Dissertation submitted to Shri R. N. Kaul, Director, Forestry Research, F.R.I., Dehra Dun.
  • Yashpal, Sahai Baldev, Sood, R.K., and Agarwal, D.P. (1980). "Remote sensing of the 'lost' Saraswati river". Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Earth and Planet Science), V. 89, No. 3, pp. 317–331.
  • Bakliwal, P. C. and Sharma, S. B. (1980). "On the migration of the river Yamuna". Journal of the Geological Society of India, Vol. 21, Sept. 1980, pp. 461–463.
  • Bakliwal, P. C. and Grover, A. K. (1988). "Signature and migration of Sarasvati river in Thar desert, Western India". Record of the Geological Survey of India V 116, Pts. 3–8, pp. 77–86.
  • Rajawat, A. S., Sastry, C. V. S. and Narain, A. (1999-a). "Application of pyramidal processing on high resolution IRS-1C data for tracing the migration of the Saraswati river in parts of the Thar desert". in "Vedic Sarasvati, Evolutionary History of a Lost River of Northwestern India", Memoir Geological Society of India, Bangalore, No. 42, pp. 259–272.
  • Ramasamy, S. M. (1999). "Neotectonic controls on the migration of Sarasvati river of the Great Indian desert". in "Vedic Sarasvati, Evolutionary History of a Lost River of Northwestern India", Memoir Geological Society of India, Bangalore, No. 42, pp. 153–162.
  • Rajesh Kumar, M., Rajawat, A. S. and Singh, T. N. (2005). "Applications of remote sensing for educidate the Palaeochannels in an extended Thar desert, Western Rajasthan", 8th annual International conference, Map India 2005, New Delhi.
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